Good news from the 10th of December council meeting, the Asker lane fields were priority 1 for building on as recommended by the planning office. This was shot down in flames by the councilors and downgraded to priority 4 - Not suitable for development on multiple counts!

The developers can still appeal, but this decision is unlikely to be overturned as the vote was one off unanimous!

In the mean time the application for the Asker Lane fields to become a protected open space are still in progress, so fingers crossed!

Next Metting 10th December

The next meeting of the council is on Monday 10th December @ 6.00pm at the Council Chamber,County Hall, Matlock

This is the meeting where they are looking at prioritizing the land to build on. The full agenda can be found  <here>

Please turn up and show your support!

November 20th Metting Agenda!

The County Council have just released the agenda for the public meeting on November 20th @ 6.00pm and High Fields School.

Main CC Page

The agenda has two main parts: Agenda

1) To discuss the public consultation about the new development plans
2) To discuss the changes to the old Settlement Framework Boundary (SFB)

1) Basically it's full steam ahead, they have new census data and are recommending that they go with their figures of 4400 new housed by 2028! and a 71% growth in OAPs coming to the area!

2) This is about the proposed changes to the Settlement Framework Boundary from before, not the new plans! As far as Matlock goes it currently concerns Starkholmes and the EXCLUSION of Hall Dale Quarry now to be reconsidered and recommended. The Asker Lane SFB changes will come later with a new proposal!


For your information the Asker Lane Fields whilst not being disused at the point as far as the SFB is concerned are STILL in the proposed development Land!

See Here (Page 16- DD854)


So nothing has changed we still need to keep the presure on to stop the County Council building on our green fields.

Please make a big effort to get as many people as you can to come to this public meeting!

Residents meet in fields!

Matlock Residents brave the rain to speak to the local paper about their feelings regarding the County Councils plans to build on local green field sites.

Over 50 residents showed up at short notice to meet with the Matlock Mercury today on the Asker Lane fields (MAT1).

Next Town Planning Meetings

The Next Meeting of the County Council with the Matlock residents is scheduled for the 20th November at Highfileds School @ 6.00pm regarding the proposed changes to the Settlement Framework Boundaries around Matlock to accommodate the new planed developments on green field sites.

Please all come along, at the last meeting there were over 400 residents present - lets keep the pressure on!



There will be another meeting of the Local Plan Advisory Committee on 10th December at Council Chamber County Hall Matlock @ 6.00pm, where they will consider the suitability of Halldale Quarry as a location for new residential development amongst other issues.

If you would like to speak at this official meeting then you need to register your intent here:

http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/public-participation

Town Green Aplication

Matlock Residents Town Green Campaign!

Residents of Matlock are seeking Village/Town Green Status for the Asker Lane/Chesterfield Road 'Green Oasis' in the center of Matlock. This area of open space has been used by local residents for well over 20 years for recreation, dog walking, children playing, kite flying, running and many other sports and has been recently  ear marked for destruction by the council in favour of a huge housing estate.

In collaboration with the Open Spaces Society (oss.org.uk )local residents have submitted an official application (Commons Act 2006: Section 15 - Application for the registration of land as a Town or Village Green) to the County Council together with over twenty five letters of proof that this area has had unrestricted public access for over twenty years (the minimum requirement) to permanently turn the Asker Lane fields into a town green for all to use.

This is just part of the continuing fight from local residents against the Derbyshire Dales District Council’s plans to build on many of the treasured green field areas in and around Matlock, just to fill its government quota even though the councils own data is showing a static population growth in Matlock. Against huge opposition the Council appear determined to just push ahead with these destructive plans and already have developers involved.

According to the Open Spaces Society there are approximately 3650 registered greens in England and about 220 in Wales, covering about 8150 and 620 acres respectively.  If the application is successful this area will be protected by law and this area of natural beauty can be enjoyed for years to come by local residents and will be kept sacred for our future generations.

Asker Lane Residents Group

Matlock Planning Consultation Meeting

The re-scheduled consultation meeting for the recent planning proposals in the Matlock area to build 270 new houses on green filed sites went ahead as planned yesterday evening at 7.00pm.

This time the venue was big enough (just) and the local residents turned out in force with approximately 400 people present.

Surprisingly the meeting was quite orderly and dealt with in a professional manner by the local council with both Mike Hase (Planning Policy Manager ) & Paul Wilson (Director of Planning and Housing Services) fielding questions.

The overall atmosphere indicated that the residents of Matlock were united against developing on these green field sites, in particular areas of natural beauty and open spaces currently used by residents for recreation.

Other interesting points raised included:

a)      Scepticism about the projected figures regarding the quantity of housing needed. Apparently the figures were based on old data from 2004 and as we know major economic changes have happened recently affecting not only employment but also banks and mortgages etc. <Population Figures (page 83)>

b)      Concerns about the statistics on population growth in the Matlock area, in particular the fact that the Matlock population is actually in decline and that any new houses would mainly serve Migration which meant mainly retired people moving to the area not young families.

c)       Concerns on local employment, which is already under pressure, and the fact that creating new houses doesn’t create long term employment.

d)      Major concerns about the road networks and impacts on traffic with approximately 2000 extra car journeys per day. In particular access issues on the Mat 1 & Mat 2 sites.

e)      Points were raised about developing on Brown Field Sites in preference to Green Field Sties, in particular the Hall Dale Quarry area which is large enough to take the entire capacity. <all proposed sites in addition to the ones on the documents>

f)       Points were raised about the High Fields school campus being on one site and that part of the proposed plan is on land earmarked for that. Also that if the school were on one site the Starkholmes site would become available for residential development.

g)      It was also raised that there was a large area of land owned by the golf club that was available for development.

h)      Major concerns were raised about the Mat 1 location being a local recreational area and an area of natural beauty with an abundance of wildlife including protected Badger Sets.

On the whole all questions from the floor were answered in a professional objective manor by the speakers and the meeting could be concluded as a success.

One interesting point raised by Mr. Wilson (Director of Planning and Housing Services) was that the meeting carried no weight regarding the decisions of the council, no attendance figures or minutes of the meeting were recorded and that the only way to make a difference was to write in, in person to the council with your views before 30^th of August.

So we urge everyone to write in to the council with your views.

In particular your views on:

a)      Questioning quantity of hosing proposed in Matlock, is it really necessary?

b)      Impact on the road networks

c)      Impacts on the character of Matlock

d)      Impacts on wildlife and natural beauty spots

e)      Decimation of Matlock’s open spaces and recreational areas

f)       Preference of Brownfield Site development (eg. Hall Dale Quarry)

g)      Concerns about migration (retired people coming to the area) being the major need for these developments.

Please send written responses (before 30^th August) to: 

Derbyshire Dales District Council
Housing Options Consultation
Town Hall
Bank Road
Matlock
Derbyshire
DE4 3NN

Planning Meeting Tonight!

Remember that the new planning town meeting is tonight!

Wednesday 18th July 7.00pm till 9.00pm at High Fields Upper School

Matlock Settlement Framework Boundary Review

Smoke and mirrors - The District Council are strangely proposing two contradictory proposals during the consultation period (ending 30th August).

1) The planning of 270 new houses to be built on green field sites outside of the current Settlement Framework Boundary. ie. proposing to move the town boundaries so that they can build on our green fields. <Document Link>

2) The proposal of a new Settlement Framework Boundary update that on their own map excludes these new proposed building sites. <Document Link>

So there are in fact two separate issues that the council are seeking your opinion on, and therefore we should write two separate letters:

1) New proposed building sites:

What would you prefer?

The District Council considers that there are three options that could be
adopted towards the allocation of residential development in Matlock:

Option A – Development of the required housing provision on one large site
and a number of other sites around the town

Option B – Development of the required housing provision on two large sites

Option C – Allocate land to meet the required housing provision across a
number of sites around the town

So you should write a letter voicing your opinions about the need for new housing:

Some Points to consider:

a) Vehicular Access (1000's more cars per day - the council are saying 2160 more cars per day!)
b) Exercise areas - In particular the Asker Lane fields are used by hundreds of people a day to exercise, dog walk, and play.
c) Wild life issues (Badger Sets!), rare birds, hedge rows etc. 
d) Do we actually need these houses in this economic downturn - look at the stats??
e) If the proposed plans go ahead would you prefer option A,B or C - OR None of them!


The general opinion seems to be that the residents don't want any new houses being built on currently protected green field sites and that the council should explore some more alternative like brown filed sites!

2) Proposed Settlement Framework Boundary

Here you can see the proposed changes to the Settlement Framework Boundary:

 < Big Map >

The only proposed change is an area near Starkholmes NOT the Asker Lane Fields or other proposed sites.

So we would recommend that you write a second letter agreeing with the new Settlement Framework Boundary proposal!

Dead Line for all letters is 30th August 2012!!!

Please send written responses (Most Effective) to: 

Derbyshire Dales District Council
Housing Options Consultation
Town Hall
Bank Road
Matlock
Derbyshire
DE4 3NN

New Meeting Dates

Following the canceled meeting for the residents of Matlock last week the new dates and larger venu have been set.:

Wednesday 18th July 7.00pm till 9.00pm at High Fields Upper School 

www.highfields.derbyshire.sch.uk/

It is very important that we get as many people as possible to attend to show the district council how upset everyone is about the proposed plans to build on our green field sites.

Public Meeting a Shambles!

I appears that the council got a bit of shock last night when trying to host the public meeting to gauge the feelings of the local residents about the recent planning proposals on green field sites.

This is about 1/4 of the people present

 The meeting was scheduled at 7.00pm and by 6.30pm the room was almost full, come 7.00pm and there were as many people outside the building as there were inside well exceeding capacity. 

Therefore for health and safety reasons the council regrettably had to cancel the meeting, wasting everyone’s time, and are planning to re-schedule to another day and a larger venue.

The council representative thanked everyone for their ‘interest’ in the proposed project only to be corrected that the people weren’t there through interest but more like outrage against the proposed decimation of the local green field sites.

We will post the new meeting date and revised timescale to write in with your views as soon as these dates are released.

Public Meeting

There is to be a public meeting and information exhibition to be held on Thursday this week (21st June).

Matlock Imperial Rooms

The exhibition will be from  2.00pm - 6.00pm at the Matlock Imperial Rooms

and the public Q&A  meeting will be from 7.00pm to 9.00pm also at the Matlock Imperial Rooms.

It is important that you make the effort to attend the public meeting on Thursday @ 7.00pm to show the council how many people will be negatively effected by this proposed development and that we do care about our open green spaces in Matlock. 

Matlock Town Council
Imperial Rooms
Imperial Road
Matlock
Derbyshire
DE4 3NL

Telephone:  01629 583042

http://www.matlock.gov.uk/the-council

Satellite view of the proposed housing estate

Satellite view of the proposed housing estate

Street View of area to be lost

Street View of area in question

 Google Street View Link

All of this area, from the wall to the trees in the distance, will be lost forever to a huge housing estate!

Building Alternatives

There are several alternatives to the proposed site off Asker Lane (MAT1), many of these can be seen on this map:

There is also a natural development site similar in size to MAT1 leading to Matlock Golf Club (currently owned by the golf club) that has been proposed but isn't marked on the council map?

The full document can be found here:

http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/images/documents/H/Housing_Allocations_Issues_and__Options_-_Appendix_1_-_Settlement_Overview_Maps.pdf

Matlock 'Oasis' Planned Building Site

Planned Development Area

Full document can be found here:

http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/images/documents/H/Housing_Allocations_Issues_and_Options_-_Appendix_2_-_Matlock_Wirksworth_Sub_Area.pdf

Derbyshire Dales Information

Here is a PDF document from the district council explaining the need for the increase in housing:

http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/images/documents/H/Housing_options_leaflet_-_matlock.pdf

Do you think we need more housing in Matlock?

If you would like to submit your views on the Housing Options you may do so by using one of the following methods:

Online: www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/housingoptions

By E-Mail: planning@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

By Post:
Derbyshire Dales District Council, Housing Options Consultation, Town Hall
Bank Road, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3NN

By Phone: 01629 761241

Matlock Village Green

Residents of Matlock are seeking Village Green Status for the Asker Lane/Chesterfield Road 'Oasis' in the center of Matlock. This area of open space has been used by local residents for well over 20 years (the minimum criteria) for walking, dog walking, children playing, kite flying, running and other sports.

A residents group has joined the Open Spaces Society and are seeking to save this area of natural beauty from recent threats of a huge housing development.

We have also contacted Fields In Trust a charity with the Queen as patron :

They have some useful information of the planning process: FIT_Planning.pdf

Derbyshire Dales Consultation

 Information regarding the plans and consultation period can be found on the Derbyshire Dales website:

http://www.derbyshiredales.gov.uk/your-council/consultations/current-consultations/housing-options-consultation

"Consultation on the preferred level of housing requirement, the distribution of housing across the plan area, and the site options is being undertaken for 6 weeks from 14th June 2012 to 26th July 2012."

So your views must be received before 26th of July 2012!!

Matlock Mercury Front Page

Asker Lane off Chesterfield Road

Sites for new homes in Dales revealed 

For the full press release visit: 

http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/local-news/sites-for-new-homes-in-dales-revealed-1-4624178